Bills Digest no. 134 2005–06

Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments)Bill(No. 1) 2006 2007

WARNING:
This Digest was prepared for debate. It reflects the legislation as
introduced and does not canvass subsequent amendments. This Digest
does not have any official legal status. Other sources should be
consulted to determine the subsequent official status of the
Bill.

Since 1982 the appropriations for the parliamentary departments
have been effected by a separate Bill. This followed the Fraser
Government s consideration of the Report of the Senate Select
Committee on Parliamentary Appropriations and Staffing which was
tabled on 18 August 1981. Under current arrangements, the executive
Government maintains control over the contents of the Bill as
introduced. In theory, however, as the Appropriation (Parliamentary
Departments) Bill is not for the ordinary annual services of the
Government, it may be amended by the Senate.

The Parliamentary Services Act 1999 provides that the
administration of the Parliament is undertaken by at least two
parliamentary departments. Only the Departments of the Senate and
the House of Representatives (the chamber departments) are created
by force of law. Other departments may be established or abolished
by resolutions passed by each House.(1) In August 2003
the Senate and the House of Representatives both resolved that
there would be a Department of Parliamentary Services to support
the work of the Parliament,(2) and that it would be
established by amalgamating the Joint House Department with the
Departments of the Parliamentary Reporting Staff and the
Parliamentary Library. The amalgamation was recommended by the 2002
Review by the Parliamentary Service Commissioner of aspects of
the administration of the Parliament, more popularly known as
the Podger Report.(3)

The new Department of Parliamentary Services commenced on 1
February 2004. The President of the Senate and the Speaker of the
House of Representatives are joint Presiding Officers responsible
for the Department.

One of the major reasons in the Podger Report for amalgamating
the three departments was cost savings.(4) The report
suggested that these savings might:

imply significant resources could be redirected to
core parliamentary business, eg to improve the quality of services
to Senators and Members.(5)

Reviewing the financial performance of the Department of
Parliamentary Services, the Portfolio Budget Statement 2006 07
states that:

Indications are that DPS will manage within the
allocated budget for 2005 06, although employee and supplier
expenses are higher and depreciation expense is lower than was
anticipated in the original budget. DPS s capacity to manage within
the allocated budget for 2006 07 and forward years will depend on
the savings generated from the continuous improvement reviews and
the capacity of other areas within DPS to continue to supplement
the Security budget. The funds available for Security are currently
around $3.057m less than the anticipated full-year spending for
2005 06.(6)

The Budget Statement also records that there has been a slowdown
in building work projects, so it is estimated that $3m of the 2005
06 appropriation will remain unspent at 30 June 2006. The Finance
Minister recently approved an application to move $3m from 2005 06
into 2006 07 to ensure this amount would not
lapse.(7)

The Citizenship Visits Program which was jointly funded by the
Department of the House of Representatives and the Department of
the Senate and managed by the House of Representatives, is to be
transferred to the Department of Education, Science and Training
from the start of the 2006 07 budget year.(8)

Proposed section 4 provides that Portfolio
Budget Statements are to be considered as relevant extrinsic
material which may assist in the interpretation of the
Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) legislation. Portfolio
Budget Statements are statements prepared by portfolios (or by
departments in the case of the parliamentary departments) to
explain the Budget appropriations in terms of outcomes. Their
purpose is to assist in explaining the proposed appropriations in
the Appropriation Bills.

Proposed section 6 lists the total amount
appropriated by the Bill that is $171.607 million. This is
approximately $7 million more than the actual available
appropriation for 2005 06. The appropriations for the chamber
departments have decreased slightly, with the Department of
Parliamentary Services receiving an increase of slightly less than
$8 million in 2006 07.

Proposed section 7 provides that for
departmental items, the Finance Minister may issue from the
Consolidated Revenue Fund amounts that do not exceed that listed in
the Schedule to the Bill, and that such funds must be used for the
departmental expenses of the relevant parliamentary department.
Departmental expenses are incurred by parliamentary departments in
providing the programs and services indicated in the Portfolio
Budget Statements. Subsection 7(3) provides that
where the amount is for remuneration or allowances payable under
the Remuneration Tribunal Act 1973 or the Remuneration
and Allowances Act 1990, the Minister for Finance must issue
that amount.

For administered expenses, proposed section 8
provides that the Finance Minister may issue the lesser of two
amounts; either the amount specified in the item or the amount the
Minister determines to be the administered expenses incurred by the
parliamentary department during the current year. Administered
expenses are funds administered by the parliamentary department on
behalf of the Commonwealth for its purposes. They include grants,
subsidies and benefits. In many cases, administered expenses fund
the delivery of goods and services by third
parties.(9)

Proposed section 11 provides that the
responsible Presiding Officer may request the Finance Minister to
make a written determination reducing the appropriation for an item
in the budget of a parliamentary department by an amount specified
in the determination. The amount of reduction is to be no greater
than the amount requested, or, where payments have already been
made from the Consolidated Revenue Fund, the difference between the
amount appropriated to an item and the amount already paid
(proposed paragraph 11(4)(b).) Reductions can only
be made at the request of the responsible Presiding Officer
(proposed subsections 11(1) and
11(3)). Proposed subsection 11(8)
provides that a determination made under this section may be
disallowed by either House of Parliament in accordance with the
provisions of section 42 of the Legislative Instruments Act
2003. However, the sunsetting provisions contained in Part 6
of the Legislative Instruments Act do not apply to such a
determination.

Under section 31 of the Financial Management and
Accountability Act 1997, departments have access to certain
monies received in payment for services (proposed
section12). Services provided by
parliamentary departments that may attract receipts include
contributions from participants towards the cost of conferences and
seminars conducted by the departments, asset sales, monies for
accrued leave entitlements of transferred employees, and interest
earned on fixed term deposits with the Reserve Bank of
Australia.

Under proposed section13, the
responsible Presiding Officer/s will be able to increase the amount
allocated to a departmental item by a maximum of $200 000 for
each of the three Departments.

Proposed section 14 is similar to
proposed section13 but deals
with increases in items due to unforseen and urgent circumstances.
The maximum increase under proposed section14 is a total of $300 000 each for the
chamber departments, and a total of $1 million for the Department
of Parliamentary Services.

Proposed section 17 will appropriate the funds
for services specified in Schedule 1 from the
Consolidated Revenue Fund.

Rosemary Bell
19 May 2006
Bills Digest Service
Information and Research Services

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